Lessons for topic Pronouns

After telling us about the different relative pronouns, which in some cases are interchangeable, Daniela finishes up by telling us that in certain cases, when we are talking about a place or situation, we can use dove (where) instead of in cui (in which). To back up a moment, we're talking about object relative pronouns, indeed, indirect object pronouns, because in the case of cui(which), we often need a preposition right before it. Here's how she summarizes cui. If you can watch the lesson it might be helpful!

The good news here is that we don't have to consider gender when we use cui. Getting stuck mid-sentence looking for the right article can hamper the telling of a good story. Socui is a good relative pronoun to be familiar with. But many of us might not feel so comfortable using cui. Indeed, you don't need to think about gender, but you do have to think about which preposition to use: There is an alternative that you might like.

Using dove (where) can simplify life, actually. Certainly, Italians use dove (where) as a relative pronoun, even when we're not strictly talking about places and situations. And we do this in English, too, so it won’t seem too odd!

Following are some examples from Yabla videos. Let's remember that dove (where) is not always a relative pronoun, and it is not always a relative pronoun taking the place of in cui, but the following examples have been selected because they do fit into this category.

Now that you have looked at all these examples, why not try transforming them into sentences with incui?If that is too easy, try the same thing with nel quale, nella quale, nei quale, or nelle quale. For this, you will need to consider gender and number! Here’s the link to suggested solutions. Non barare (don't cheat) — unless you have to!

Let us know if you like this system of exercises and their solutions! Write to us at newsletter@yabla.com

Relative pronouns allow us to combine two shorter sentences that are related to each other into a longer one made up of two clauses. Similarly to English, we distinguish between main or independent clauses and subordinate dependent clauses. And when there is a relative pronoun present, it is part of what's called "a relative clause."

The first relative pronoun that Daniela describes is che (that/which).

La spiaggia di Mondello è la spiaggia dei palermitani. The Mondello beach is the beach of the inhabitants of Palermo.

In order to combine these two short sentences, we use a relative pronoun to connect the clauses. We replace la spiaggia di Mondello with che (which), so it's both a pronoun that replaces a noun, and a conjunction that connects two parts of the [new] sentence.

Let's look at an example in which che translates nicely with "that," but can work fine with "which," too. In English, "that" and "which" are often interchangeable, but we need to keep in mind that "which" needs a comma before it, and "that" doesn't (most of the time).

C'è un ballo tradizionale che si chiama il "salterello" [saltarello].

There's a traditional dance that is called the "saltarello" [literally, little jump].There's a traditional dance, which is called the "saltarello" [literally, little jump].